2010 : Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke
Genres: Science Fiction, Space travel, Aliens, human intelligence, artificial intelligence,2021-read,reviewed.
Rating: 5/5
Awesome Read!! More than reading like fiction, it felt like I was reading a history book. Without going too much into every intricate detail, he has covered a lot of material. One of the worst fears I have in life is getting hopelessly lost in space. Although all the science fiction space related stories(like this one and project hail mary etc) eventually end on a note of success and hope, the stakes couldn't be higher in those challenging and harrowing situations for the astronauts should they arise in reality. It might all depend on the success of a minute calibration, ship orientation and it invariably is life or death with no in between. This book is a gripping read - as most/all Clarke's books are - which made me forget both time and number of pages read/left to read etc. :D
This book is a continuation to 2001 A space Odyssey which was a huge success and a timeless classic. It picks up from where it was left off - a queer looking object is identified in the space between Jupiter and moon Io where human spaceship Discovery is also wandering/spinning off as a derelict object. Humans in their never ending desire to explore and learn, send another manned spaceship Leonov to rendezvous with the derelict ship Discovery and also study as much as they can about the unidentified object standing static in the space.
Dr. Heywood Floyd(head of the last mission), Dr. Chandra (father and creator of AI agent HAL that went rogue in part 1 on Discovery) and a team of Americans, Russians - headed by Tanya - set off on a follow up mission to continue the journey abruptly stopped by Discovery. In part 1, we see the accidental death of an astronaut aboard Discovery, HAL's dismantling by David Bowman, his taking over manual control of the ship and going off to perform a solo EVA around the object in space. That's where the communicational connection with earth to Discovery has ended and the team wants to explore further. Leonov reaches and establishes a contact with Discovery. They resuscitate HAL and identify the reason for its erratic behavior as a psychosis developed from trying to follow contradicting instructions. Dr. Chandra works endlessly on the AI to restart it erasing its memories where it went rogue and bringing it back to life. But there is always a looming fear if it should think alike again and go rogue following its inner direction than the commands given. They spend much time hanging around the object but nothing happens. They eventually tire off waiting and plan to run some detonation tests near the object. Suddenly they receive a cryptic message from Dave Bowman's spirit or ghost which warns them to start off on their journey back home immediately. For this change in their schedule, they have to make a maneuver that relies completely on HAL's cooperation and also Dr.Chandra's with it. Will HAL cooperate? Will it sign off its own self in an attempt to send back this set of humans home? Or will it prioritize its mission statement over the commands issued?
And just before they start back, they notice that the object - which has stayed in the same place for millions of years - has suddenly disappeared. And there is a new dark spot forming around Jupiter which is spreading like a ink spot rapidly multiplying and reproducing. They identify this as planetary plague which is eating up the planet in pieces and compressing the planet into a high density ball. Followed by a suspenseful fear over what HAL might do, uncertainty if their calibrated orientations succeed or not and curiosity about the plague - they leave the course of their journey to fate awaiting to see what might happen. Do they reach Earth safe? So what is this plague? Why has it waiting so long to plunge upon this gaseous giant? Is it an accident or a calculated move - if so, by whom? Is Earth and other planetary bodies safe from the seemingly ravening hunger of this planetary plague? Why is Dave Bowman still alive and not dead? What's his ultimate fate? And what happens to HAL which is left behind along with Discovery?
It's an intriguing read that left more questions than answered but the wonder and imagination fired up through reading it is so great!!
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